Aviation apparatus.



T. W. CAREY, JR. AVIATION APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1911.

1 ,O'YOfll 1 Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

2 SHEETS'SHEET l.

WITNESSES l/VVEIVTOR [72002041141 (hazy k- I By v v fl' j T ORNEYS' T. W. CAREY, JR. AVIATION APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1911.

Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

2 SHBETSSHEET 2.

WITNESSES 4 AVIATION APPARATUS.

.To all whom it may concern:

means for starting flying machines without the necessity of running over the ground, and for ore andjpackage carrying, and also as a carousel foramusement places.

An object of this invention is to provide a continuous .track for supporting a flying machine out of contact with the ground, whereby it may be safely operated by an inexperienced person without danger of going too high or too low, or coming in contact with extraneous objects; in other words, to provide means for confining the direction of the flight of the flying machine.

A further object of this invention is to provide a flying machine with means for confining'or constraining its direction of flight, and with a safety device adapted to be applied as a brake, for controlling the speed of the flying machine.

These and further objects, together with the construction and combination of parts,

will be more fully described hereinafter and particularly set forth in {the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail of the upper trolley, taken in side elevation; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken at right-angles to the view shown in Fig. 2.

Referring more particularly to the separate parts of this invention as embodied in the form shown in the drawings, 1 indicates a flying machine, which may be of any suitableform, and may be driven in any suitable manner. The flying -machine is adapted to be constrained in its direction of travel by a trackway 2, which may be of any suitable form, and is shown in this in- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug.12,1913.

Application filed-June 13, 1911 Serial No. 632,891.

stance to be formed of a pair of spaced tracks 3 and 4, spaced apart vertically from each other and connected in such a manner as to form a continuous endless guideway, which, while it is shown circular, may be of any suitable configuration.

The means for securing the flying machine to the tracks 3 and 4 may be of any suitable character, and in thisinstance, there are shown to be provided upper and lower carriages 5 and 6, connected to the flying machine by ties 7 and 8, which are shown as having resilient members, in the form of springs 9 and 10, interposed between the carriages and the flying machine, to allow for limited relative movement between the carriages and the flying machine.

In order to prevent the dipping of the flying machine in the direction of its length, there are provided fore and aft guys 11 and 12, which are shown as connected to the flying machine in front of and to the rear of the point of attachment of the ties. 7, and at their opposite ends to the tie 7 itself. The transverse canting of the flying machine is limited in a similar manner by guys 13 and 14, which connect the tie 8 with points on the flying machine located transversely at opposite sides of the point of attachment of thetie 8 to the flying machine. A

The carriages 5 and 6 may be of any suitable character and in this-instance are shown to be of similar form, and therefore only one will be described." j Each carriage includes a frame 15,""on which turned-over portions 16 are provided, to form U-shaped members, in the opposite sides of which are located suitable journal bearings for the shafts, in this instance indicated by bolts 17 of trolley wheels 18, which are adapted to engage the supporting tracks 3 and 4, which may be of any suitable character, such as a T-shaped rail, or as shown in this instance, a round wire or cable. It will be seen by this arrangement that the carriage is formed with an overhang, in which the trolley wheels 18 are supported, so that they engage the track properly. and avoid the supports for the track, which will be described hereinafter.

The frame 15preferably bends inwardly on the opposite side of the track from the overhang, so that the line of pull of the flying machine on the carriage will extend directly through the point of contact of the trolley wheels 18 with the tracks. The ties 7 and 8 may be secured in any suitable manner to the inner ends of the frame 15, which is bent as mentioned, as by means of eppositely-extending connections 19 and 20, which equalize the strain on the carriage.

For the purpose of retaining the carriage on the track, there is provided a safety wheel 21, which is rotatably mounted on the pivoted arm '22 which forms a trolley pole. This safety wheel 21 is normally held. in intimate contact with the inner side of the track by means of a spring 23, which is con nected at one end to the trolley pole, and at the other end to the framer This spring is merely strong enough to keep the safety wheel 21 in engagement with the track without any excessive force and with just sufficient tension to prevent the carriage from jumping the track. If an extra force is desired, so as to act as a brake, slowing up the movement of the carriage relative to the track, a flexible connection 24 may be provided, which is secured to the trolley pole 22, and passes over a suitable guide pulley 25 on the frame 15 to a point on the flying machine where it may be operated by a suitable lever, hand-wheel or the like.

'In order to support the tracks 3 and 4 in such a manner that the supports will not interfere with the movement of the carriages on the tracks, there are provided hangers 26 which are irregular arch-shaped, so as to engage on the inner side of the track and support the same and yet allow sufli-- cient clearance to permit the overhang of the carriage to pass by, the hangers. The hangers 26 are preferably pivotally connected to brackets 27 and28, so as to allow for a limited swinging of the tracks due to the movement of the aeroplane. The brackets 27 may be secured in any'suitable manner to transversely-extending cables 29, which in turn are supported on'standards 30, which may be of any suitable form, and are shown in this case to comprise horizontally-spaced vertically extending uprights 31, secured at their bottoms on bases 32, and having their connections with said bases reinforced by ties or braces 33. The brackets 28 are secured in a similar position on the bases 32, to support the lower track 1.

For the purposeof reinforcing the tracks, there are provided braces 34, which bridge the hangers 26 on the inner side thereof, and are connected yto'the tracks at opposite sides of the point of'support of the hangers. This arrangement positively prevents any relative movement ofthe tracks and the hangers, the hangers being dished out or concaved, to receive the tracks and the braces 34.

' It will thus be seen that there is provided a simple and efflcient means for constraining the direction of flight of a flying machine, both in a horizontal direction and in a vertical direction, and-that there is absolutely no chance of the carriages leaving the tracks, although a limited movement of the flying machine relative to the carriages is resiliently provided .for, which, however, does not permit the flying machine to'pitch or roll. The speed of the flying machine may also be controlled by applying the safety pulley 21 with sufiicient force to form a brake therefor.

WVhile I have shown one embodiment of my invention, I do not wish to be limited to the specific details thereof, but desire to be protected in various changes, alterations and modifications which may come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination with a flying machine, of a trackway for constraining the flight of said flying machine, connections between said flying machine and said trackway, and guys for preventing irregular movements of said flying machine, some of said guys ex.

tending in fore and aft directions to prevent pitching, and-others of sald guys extendmg transversely, to prevent canting or rolling.-

2. The combination with a pair of vertically-spaced endlesstracks arranged in substantially parallel relation, of a carriage running on each of said tracks, a flying machine, and yielding connections between said flying machine and each of said carriages, adapted to suspend said flying machine between said tracks, so as to direct the line of travel of said flying machine.

3. In an aviation apparatus, the combination of endless tracks arranged one above the other, a carriage on each track, a flying machine, a connection between the flying machine and each carriage, fore and aft guys secured to the flying machine and to one of the said connections, and transverse guys secured to the flying machine and to the other' connection.

4. In an aviation apparatus, the combina-- ing the standards, of hangers pivotally'connected. to the transverse members of the said standards, tracks earned. by said hangers,

carriages mounted to run on said tracks,

and a flying machine connected to said carriage so as to beheld between the tracks and to have its line of travel constrained substantially to the direction of said tracks.

6. In an aviation apparatus, the combination of spaced uprights, transverse members connecting the upper and lower ends of the uprights, tracks arranged one above the other and hangers for supporting each track from the transverse members of the uprights, each hanger being curved outwardly and then inwardly and pivotally connected with a transverse member of said uprights.

7. In anaviation apparatus, the combination with a plurality of supports, a track, hangers for supporting the track from the supports, each hanger being secured to thetrack, curved outwardly and then upwardly over the track and pivotally connected with a support, and braces for the track, each brace having its ends secured to the track at opposite sides of the point of support of the hangers. V v

8. In an aviation apparatus, the combination with a plurality of pairs of uprights, the uprights of each pair being connected together, of a track provided with braces secured at their ends to the track, and hangers for supporting the trackvfrom the uprights, each hanger being secured between the track and a brace, curved outwardly and then inwardly over the track and pivotally connected with a connection between the u rights.

, 9. En aviation apparatus, comprising pairs of spaced uprights, a pair of endless tracks arranged one above the other, means for supporting the tracks from and between the said uprights, a carriage mounted to travel on each track, a flying machine,.and,

connections between the flying machine and the sald carriages.

1O. An aviation apparatus, comprising yielding connections between the flying machine and carriages, and guys for preventing pitching and canting of the flying ma- In testimony whereof I havesigned my name to this specification in the presence of 

